The Meaning of Fate
by McErson
Summary: Heroes from far and wide gather to defend the Earth against it's biggest threat yet.
1. Prologue

Chihiro looked over at the plains in front of her. The sweeping hills moved majestically as the blades of grass upon them blew in the wind. This peaceful and tranquil scene stretched on to infinity, and the tranquility would soon become her personal hell. She knew this, and she braced herself for the journey ahead.

"Barney, do you think we'll ever reach home? Do you think we'll see mum and dad again" she said to her purple companion. The Dinosaur, only a baby by Dino-Standards, but still a fairly large beast, looked up at Chihiro.

"I love you, you love me. Soon we'll find our family" he said, with an air of mysticism around him. This was Barney's gift – he always knew how to sound wise, and it cheered Chihiro up.

It had been a long journey to get here. Many people she'd loved had died. Many people had survived when fate said they shouldn't have. A battle had been fought but lost, however the war was won. She smiled. The greatest task before how now was going home, and hoping a home was still there. Compared to the last few months, that was a relatively simple task.

She swung a leg over his bag, and they rode off towards infinity.

5 Months Ago

June 15th

In the slums beneath Neo Tokyo...

2D and Murdoc sat in the bar, drinking down a mouthful of cold beer. They'd only been here a week, but it felt like their search was already doomed to failure.

"All of Tokyo, and we can't find one Noodle" joked Murdoc. Their search for the missing guitarist had taken them all over the world, and finally led them here, to her home city. Even here though, her name made people scratch their heads in confusion. It was like the whole world had forgotten the global rock star.

"No use drowning ourselves in booze 'Doc, let's go" said 2D, as he resigned himself from the bar.

"Just a few more minutes, I'll catch up." Murdoc ordered another drink – something stronger this time. He sat on his own in the bar and looked around at the clientèle. Mostly has-beens, and people who's life had taken a turn for the worse. As he looked around, he caught the eye of one man in particular. This man stood up and walked towards Murdoc, with the poise and authority of a man that had seen combat.

"I know where your Noodle is" he said.

"What? How do you, who are you?" Murdoc spluttered out.

"I can't tell you who I am. But for now call me..." The old man lit up a cigarette, despite the no smoking rules. No-one seemed to mind. "...Call me Snake"

"Snake, huh?" Murdoc held back a laugh, "So how do you know Noodle?"

The old man coughed. His age obviously didn't agree with the nicotine.

"I don't. But I know where she is. Well, more to the point, I know who took her."

Murdoc raised an eyebrow. Noodle had been kidnapped?

"By who?" Murdoc started to sweat. He wasn't prepared for this. He hoped to find her chilling in the countryside, not tied up in a basement.

"I can't tell you. You wouldn't believe me. If you want to help you friend, meet me tomorrow night at the old Shinra Warehouse. All will be revealed"

And like that, he was gone. Murdoc downed his drink and left towards his hotel room.


	2. Chapter 1

June 16th

Evening

Shinra Warehouse

"Are you sure about this Murdoc?" 2D asked, "This place seems abandoned."

"The guy said he knew where Noodle is, we have to at least look into this."

He walked up to the large door of the warehouse. The cool night air blowed in his face as he pulled it open. Inside, Snake was waiting with two other people.

"Good, you came. This way."

Snake walked towards the warehouse elevator, used for transporting materials from the basement. They all squeezed onto it, and descended. The lift seemed to go on forever.

"Look, I don't know who you guys are. Do you know where Noodle is or not? If this is a waste of time then I'll rip out your throat" Murdoc spat on the floor. This seemed too fishy.

"We know where Noodle is, but you're right to be suspicious" said Snake as he lit up a cigarette, "After all, we require your assistance."

"I knew it," mumbled 2D, "I knew this wasn't gonna be easy"

The two strangers on the lift stepped forward, and introduced themselves to the two Gorillaz.

"My name is Lelouch, my power is the ability to make anyone do what I wish." He smiled, "I'm assuming you two don't know your power yet?"

Murdoc grumbled, _what was this?. _

The other person stepped forward, and took out a mobile phone, and typed onto it. The message written on the phone said:

"My name is Celty. My power is the ability to manipulate this shadowy substance", and with that she formed a scythe in her left hand. Murdoc's eyes widened. 2D fainted.

They arrived at the bottom, and were greeted with a large facility bustling with people from all walks of life. There were people armed with swords, guns, and one guy had a mixture of the two. Murdoc finally realised what they had been roped into.

"Oh, a convention. What are you, cosplayers?"

"Not quite, Mr Murdoc" Lelouch smiled. Murdoc immediately hated him.

"This way" Said Snake as they walked towards a door on the far-side of the facility. On the other side of the door was a theatre room. Snake, Lelouch and Celty gestured for Murdoc and 2D to take their seats. They did so, and the movie played. The voice-over seemed familiar, and then Murdoc realised it was Snakes voice.

"If you are watching this, then congratulations, you are a Hero."

Murdoc sneered. 2D was still in shock.

"A few years ago, an alien meteorite crash landed in the southern hemosphere. The meteorite released a gas which our scientists has dubbed GRAYSKULLIUM. It infected thousands of us without us even realising. The gas unlocks a hidden potential in all of us, and we all seem to have different powers. These powers, come with a price however."

"The Alien's are mounting an assault on our planet. We've fought a few fringe battles here and there without making our or their presence known, but soon the invasion fleet will be upon us. We need each and every person infected with Grayskullium to stand up with us and fight for the planet. We are the only ones with the power to stop this."

Murdoc turned around to look at the three escorts. "What's this gotta do with Noodle?" Snake brought a finger to his lips. "Keep watching".

"Not along ago, Alien Spies started visiting our planet, and started killing or abducting some of our more gifted individuals. Link and Kratos were assassinated in cold blood, and the whereabouts of Goku, Noodle and Akira are unknown. We are hoping for the best. Please help us find them, please help stop the invasion". The movie drew to a close.

"So you're saying Noodle was abducted by aliens?" asked 2D, still showing a vast amount of shock.

"Yes. We're hoping she was abducted, the other possibilities are too grim to consider." replied Lelouch.

"Wait, wait, Noodle was one of the most gifted? What was her power? Could she make shadowy scythes?" Murdoc was confused. It seemed ridiculous but also...believable.

"Noodle had the most powerful ability of all" said Snake grimly, "She had the power to..." he trailed off, but thankfully Celty had typed out the sentence for him.

"She had the power to love"


	3. Chapter 2

He looked at the two new recruits being taken away by three of his most valued officers. Snake, who's power was Espionage. Celty, who's power was to control the shadow that clings to her body. Lelouch, who's power was to issue commands to those around him, that would always be obeyed.

The two new recruits, who's powers were so far not known. Members of a popular band, he had heard. Not that it mattered. None of their past lives mattered now. He cast his eyes over the room. Their army was becoming vast, but was it enough to defeat the aliens? Who knows what their powers are? For all he knew, the aliens were more powerful versions of themselves. Or maybe they don't have any powers at all, and the meteorite only affected certain humans. Either way, he needed to make sure everyone was prepared.

He turned away from the window and faced his large office. Books on aliens and Science Fiction piled around his desk. None of it seemed to help the cause, but it was worth reading. For all he knew, these aliens had landed before and planted ideas into a science fiction writers head. He sighed and sat at his desk, opening his laptop.

Just as he began to type up his report of the day, there was a knock on the door. How can a man get any work done when he's constantly interrupted. He sighed, and stood up. He walked over to the door, hearing impatient footstamps from the other side. He opened up to see his lead scientist, Dr Kleiner, with a worried look on his face.  
>"Mr Strife, they're coming" Kleiner spilled out the words. Cloud raised both eyebrows. They're coming? Surely he didn't mean...<br>"What do you mean? As in, the aliens are attacking?"

"Not yet, but in a week. They're on the outer rims of our atmosphere, our satellites just picked them up. We have one week to prepare"

Clouds eyes turned downwards. Damnit. He ran over to the intercom system, and pressed the button marked "Facility", sending a message throughout the entire complex.

"This is Cloud speaking. I've just got word from Dr Kleiner, and I think you should all know. Come to the assembly room, pronto."

He let go of the button and sighed. He walked up to Kleiner, who grabbed his shoulder.

"Cloud, there's more."

Cloud shut his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

"What is it?" He was dreading the answer. It was never good. Kleiner produced a photograph, and handed it to him

"We managed to find a sole photograph from the night Kratos was killed. It seems our enemies aren't so alien after all."

Cloud looked at the image. A tear came to his eye, but he brushed it away. He walked towards the assembly room, clutching the photograph. He passed a bin on the way through the door to the room, and threw it in there. There was no way that photograph was true. No way. He refused to believe it. He got up on stage, and looked at all of the faces staring back at him. Towards the back, the two new recruits sat staring, with a dubious look in their eyes.

"Do you believe any of this, 'Doc" 2D asked. Murdoc scratched his chin, and sucked his teeth.

"I think I do. This all seems a bit elaborate to be a prank. And if it was a prank, why?"

2D nodded and sat back. He also was beginning to believe it. He looked up at the man on stage, who seemed to be the leader of this group. He was somewhat tall, with odd clothes. He looked visibly shaken by something, but soon brushed that up and stood up to the microphone.

"Our science officer Dr Kleiner reported that a fleet of alien ships were detected on the edge of our atmosphere." He left a dramatic pause. Everyone started murmuring. "This means we have 7 days, maybe less, to make sure we're prepared for their attack. Now we don't know yet where they'll land, but we can assume from their recent attacks that it'll be in Japan, on the outskirts of Tokyo." he looked around the room. No-one seemed to be disagreeing. "I want you all to seperate into teams. I won't do it all for you, just try and arrange yourselves into a fairly balanced team. Register yourselves on the network, and we'll email you your patrol zones. Stay vigilant." He began to walk off stage, when Kleiner showed him a dirty look. He walked back up to the microphone.

"One other thing. I was shown a rather disturbing photograph. However, I can only doubt the legitimacy of it."

He paused. This time the crowd were a bit more vocal. Wayne Rooney stood up and shouted. He was always a vocal one.

"Doubt the legitimacy? You know our team works hard to make sure we only have the facts, how can you doubt something so carelessly?"

Cloud snapped, "BECAUSE SEPHIROTH IS DEAD." he took a deep breath. Wayne now looked disturbed and sat back down.

"The picture was of Sephiroth stabbing Kratos. But I killed Sephiroth with my own hands years ago. I watched him die. I know he is not alive." Cloud looked around the room, as doubt filled his voice. "I know he isn't."


End file.
